Friday 19 February 2016

The Art of Celebration

Do we know how to celebrate life?  Do we look at a celebration the wrong way? 

A celebration is usually thought of as a festival, a special event or ceremony that is full of joy. For example, we “celebrate” a wedding but “attend” a funeral.

Have “celebrations” come to mean only marking a victory, an achievement or a happy event?

Since my beloved husband’s illness was diagnosed last November, I’ve learnt that there’s an art to celebration.

Celebration doesn’t depend on outside circumstances: why should we wait for the next birthday or personal success or sunny day to celebrate?

Even in dark times, even when we’re separated from joy and laughter by an abyss of fearful anxiety, if we dig deep enough, we can find within our souls a bubble of joy, a small wonder that can and should be celebrated with both tears and laughter.

The art of celebration doesn't lie in waiting for the good times or the happy days. 

No, it lies in finding a way to walk the middle path between great joy and great sorrow; of finding one particular moment in between those two extremes to rejoice in this moment, this one instant in which we’re alive to all that life has to offer.

Can you practice the art of celebrating your sorrows as well as your joys?  If you can, then you already know what I am learning: the dark days always become brighter when we search for something to celebrate in each other, in our life and in our world.
Magnified section of "Man and the World of Stars" mixed media Wenkidu.
Find out more about this wonderful painting of a celebration dance here